3/1/2004 By Mark Benjamin, United Press International
WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) — An Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran says Army officials at Fort Knox, Ky., refused him medical treatment after he talked publicly about poor care at the base, which helped spark hearings in Congress.

Fort Knox officials charged that soldier, Lt. Jullian Goodrum, with being absent without leave and cut off his pay after he then went to a private doctor who hospitalized him for serious mental stress from Iraq, Goodrum said.

"They are coming after me pretty bad," said Goodrum, 33, a veteran who has served the military for more than 14 years, including the first Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Goodrum has now been hospitalized in a locked mental ward at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. after turning himself in there Feb. 9. Doctors there say he has post-traumatic stress disorder from Iraq and major depression, and they worry he could hurt himself. He is not allowed to go down the hall from the inpatient psychiatric clinic for a Coke without an escort.

Goodrum said stress from Iraq, and the way he has been treated by the military since he returned, has made him so depressed he is lucky to be alive.

Goodrum appeared in an Oct. 29 UPI article about more than 400 soldiers on medical hold at Fort Knox who were waiting weeks and sometimes months for medical treatment.

That article, and an article on a similar situation at Fort Stewart, Ga., sparked a series of hearings in Congress — including a Jan. 21 appearance by Col. Keith Armstrong, garrison commander at Fort Knox, before a panel of the House Armed Services Committee.

After appearing in the UPI article on Oct. 29, Goodrum asked for medical care on or about Nov. 7. He said he told Fort Knox officials that he was having a breakdown. "I said I was having problems. I told them I felt like I was having a breakdown right there," Goodrum said. Goodrum said Fort Knox told him to go away. A handwritten note in Goodrum's records from Nov. 7 says, "Colonel Stevens do (sic) not want this patient to be in medical hold."

Goodrum said he then drove down an interstate highway at 5 miles an hour through rushing traffic. He said he was completely dysfunctional because of a combination of PTSD and what he says was retribution from his chain of command for speaking up about poor medical care at the base. He said he could have wound up dead. "A truck could have run right over me," Goodrum said about that day. "It was a complete nervous breakdown."

Goodrum, a member of the Army Reserve, was named the 176th Maintenance Battalion's "Soldier of the Year" in 2001. He has received a host of awards, including the combat action ribbon, and positive reviews from superior officers. "Lt. Goodrum is a truly outstanding junior officer," reads one performance evaluation from 2002. "In addition to his technical competence, he demonstrates great leadership potential. … Promote to captain and select for advance military schooling."

Goodrum said his problems began in Iraq, working under combat conditions in a transportation company. There, he said, safety violations — including the use of "deadlined" or broken vehicles — resulted in the death of a 22-year old soldier. Goodrum appealed to the Army's Inspector General and Congress when he returned home.

After Goodrum sought medical help at Fort Knox on Nov. 7 and was denied, Goodrum's civilian doctor hospitalized him for PTSD and alerted Fort Knox.

Dr. Vijay Jethanandani wrote Fort Knox Nov. 15 that Goodrum needed medical leave until Dec. 7. The doctor kept officials there up to date on Goodrum's condition in a series of five letters.

"It does not help that Mr. Goodrum was in combat with a unit in Iraq, where a superior officer ignored safety protocol jeopardizing the safety of soldiers and resulting in the death of one man," Jethanandani wrote. "Instead of following up on his complaints, it appears that some of his superiors on stateside may be penalizing him for reporting his superior officer in Iraq."

In the wake of the Fort Stewart and Fort Knox stories, last fall Undersecretary of Defense David S.C. Chu ordered that if medical care is not available on base, "medical commanders shall promptly refer patients to other military, Veteran Affairs, or civilian sources of care."

Goodrum said he showed Chu's memo to Fort Knox officials, but it did not help. "I told them they were ignoring an order from the undersecretary of Defense," Goodrum said. Goodrum's medical files shows that Walter Reed medical staff also have been unable to get Fort Knox medical officials to discuss his case. "Patient is currently assigned to the medical hold company in Fort Knox, Ky., and to a Capt. Savage. Capt. Savage has NOT returned any phone calls from this office," his record states.

Soldiers at Fort Knox contacted UPI about another situation they consider a sign of poor care.

On Feb. 11, a soldier on medical hold at Fort Knox who served in Iraq apparently attempted suicide in the barracks. He was attached to a Special Forces unit in Iraq.

Soldiers there said he deeply slashed both of his wrists, spraying blood in the barracks hallway and around his room before being rushed to the hospital. "If it was not for about three guys, if they had not applied direct pressure and immediate pressure, he would have died," said a soldier at Fort Knox who knows him.

Soldiers said they worry that Army officials did not act aggressively to address his problems, including heavy drinking, that appear to have surfaced since Iraq.

GET SOME TRUTH: CHECK OUT TRAVELING SOLDIER
Telling the truth – about the occupation, the cuts to veterans benefits, or the dangers of depleted uranium – is the first reason Traveling Soldier is necessary. But we want to do more than tell the truth; we want to report on the resistance – whether it's in the streets of Baghdad, New York, or inside the armed forces. Our goal is for Traveling Soldier to become the thread that ties working-class people inside the armed services together. We want this newsletter to be a weapon to help you organize resistance within the armed forces. If you like what you've read, we hope that you'll join with us in building a network of active duty organizers. www.traveling-soldier.org/

The Army Anthrax Vaccine Babies

3/1/2004 Mike Hamilton, Sunday Mirror (United Kingdom)

Five soldiers lose their babies… They all had the anthrax jab… The curse of Britain's Gulf War babies is revealed today by the Sunday Mirror. Deaths, still-births, miscarriages, physical defects and sickness are all being blamed on anthrax jabs given to soldiers who went to Iraq.

In the case of 33 Field Hospital – an Army unit of 105 men and women who served in the Gulf last year – not one pregnancy has been trouble-free since the war.

Among the victims were Lance-Corporal Andy Saupe and wife Alex, who lost baby Kye at just five weeks old.

Five minutes was all they had. Five precious minutes to say goodbye. Five minutes to cradle baby Kye in their arms before he died.

Lance-Corporal Andy Saupe was among 105 men and women serving with 33 Field Hospital who were given anthrax vaccinations before being called up for Gulf War 2.

Three months after returning home from Iraq he and wife Alex lost their five-week-old baby, born 10 weeks premature with growth problems and limb defects.

But they are not alone. The Sunday Mirror can reveal that since the war was declared over last May at least seven young couples linked to 33 Field Hospital have suffered pregnancy complications – most with tragic circumstances.

In fact not one pregnancy has been trouble-free.

As well as the death of Kye there has been one still-birth, two miscarriages, a forced termination and two premature births.

In every case one of the parents was given anthrax jabs.

The figures are shocking, especially when compared to the national average. Among the general population, around one in 20 babies are still-born. One in 85 babies is born with some sort of physical defect. One in 10 babies is premature. Miscarriages hit one in four pregnancies.

Last night Kye's distraught mother Alex said: "We want answers.

"There have been too many problems in this unit for it to be a tragic coincidence."

33 Field Hospital was deployed to the Gulf at the beginning of last year and stationed on the Iraq-Kuwait border.

The unit – comprising medics, chefs, Royal Engineers, drivers, clerks and quartermasters – then moved up to Basra in southern Iraq.

Army sources say that in Gulf War 1 women soldiers were warned not to conceive within 12 months of various vaccinations being administered.

But members of 33 Field Hospital, based in Gosport, Hants – and other troops who served in the Gulf – say no warnings were given about anthrax jabs.

Experts now fear thousands of British troops who had the vaccinations face problems with having children.

The victims of 33 Field Hospital include:

-LANCE-CORPORAL Andy Saupe, 23, and wife Alex, 25, whose son Kye died after five weeks fighting for life.

Last night the MoD was facing demands to stop anthrax vaccinations immediately and there were calls for the Government to hold a full public inquiry.

Professor Malcolm Hooper, a member of the MoD's independent vaccines panel, said: "This situation looks like a cluster and I am sure it is linked to the Anthrax vaccine.

"The numbers are relatively small and the Army will try to dilute them out with everyone else. But this is hugely significant and should not be ignored.

"Somebody should go down to Gosport and look at this problem carefully, not belittle people and brush this under the carpet."

Paul Tyler – a Liberal Democrat MP and member of the Royal British Legion Gulf War Group – said: "This sounds like conclusive evidence that the cocktail of vaccinations given to troops was totally unsafe.

"I'm afraid this is too much to be a coincidence. There should now be a full public inquiry – out in the open – into the inoculations given to troops.

"But instead there has been a constant state of denial from MOD officials and ministers over what amounts to a dereliction of duty and care to people serving their country."

Shaun Rusling, President of the National Gulf Veterans and Families' Association, praised the Sunday Mirror's investigation.

"It is extremely worrying that you have discovered these seven cases in one small unit," he said.

"Veterans across Britain are having problems but may not realise there is a wide scale problem until they read something like this.

"It is disgraceful that the Government will not hold a public inquiry into the erroneous vaccinations regime that is causing deaths and deformities in the children of war veterans."

Military Anthrax Vaccine Destroys U.S. GI, Age 17

3/1/2004 Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News MONTEREY, Tenn., March 1, 2004 — Amid all the war stories that have come out of the conflict with Iraq, Tyran Duncan's hasn't been widely told. The willing soldier became an unwitting victim to the vaccinations he was required to take to deploy. And as CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports, he's not the only one.

Tyran Duncan was just 17 – Number "45" at Monterey High in Tennessee – when he signed up for the Army.

"I was excited," says Duncan. "I mean it's always been my lifelong dream to go into the military and, you know, be a soldier."

At boot camp, he eagerly lined up for vaccinations, including flu and anthrax. "They gave us, I'd say, seven shots … at one time," he says.

First he got a rash, then flu symptoms.

"It got to where I couldn't walk at all," he says. "I couldn't even hold my glass up with both hands to take a drink out of it.

"Basically they accused me of faking it."

But Duncan wasn't faking. Within days, he was paralyzed, on a respirator and certain he'd die, until his grandmother who raised him came to help.

"There was nothing wrong with him when they got him," says Duncan's grandmother Faye Harville. "It had to be the vaccines. I'll never see it another way."

Rehabilitation video chronicles his difficult fight back. At one point last January, he weighed 96 pounds.

Months after his paralysis hit, he was finally back at home, but he still couldn't feed himself or put on his shoes.

Today, he remains unsteady, and muscle and joint pain are constant companions. Duncan's paralysis was diagnosed as Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is clearly listed under "adverse reactions" on the anthrax vaccine label.

But soldiers don't get to see that vaccine label when they get their shots. And the Pentagon publicly claims there are no long-term adverse events from the anthrax vaccine. So soldiers may end up misdiagnosed, then discharged with serious illnesses. Incredibly, Duncan has been listed as "active duty" all this time, meaning the Army has yet to process his medical case or decide on compensation.

"Looking back on what I used to be and what I am now, it's heartbreaking," says Duncan.

But without the military career and questionable health, looking ahead can be even harder than looking back.

Do you have a friend or relative in the service? Forward this E-MAIL along, or send us the address if you wish and we’ll send it regularly.

Whether in Iraq or stuck on a base in the USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the war, at home and in Iraq, and information about other social protest movements here in the USA.

The recent news that 75 percent of 1500 Australian troops sent to Afghanistan were literally poisoned by anthrax vaccinations shots given to them by their government raises serious questions about whether similar shots, which were suspected to have been harmful, were given to New Zealand troops.

“It seems extremely likely that the New Zealand SAS and other deployments received these shots like their British and Australian counterparts, and that they suffered ill effects” said Valerie Morse of Peace Action Wellington.

“Helen Clark’s blatant misleading of the New Zealand public about the deployment of SAS troops gives us no faith that she will be immediately honest when answering the question ‘did her government poison New Zealand troops?”

IRAQ WAR REPORTS:
U.S. Soldier Killed In Baghdad Grenade Attack

02 Mar 2004 BAGHDAD (Reuters)

A U.S. soldier was killed and another seriously wounded when insurgents threw a hand grenade into their vehicle on Tuesday, a U.S. military spokesman said. The spokesman said the grenade destroyed the Humvee vehicle, in which the soldiers from the 1st Armored Division were driving in Baghdad. The wounded soldier was evacuated to a medical facility where he was in a serious condition.

Polish troops in Kerbala and U.S. soldiers in Baghdad said the blasts were caused by mortars which landed among huge crowds of Shi'ites in near-simultaneous attacks on the two cities.

The bombings produced a wave of Shiite outrage – much of it directed at U.S. troops in the Iraqi capital. U.S. soldiers who arrived at Kazimiya were attacked by angry crowds throwing stones and garbage, injuring two Americans.

Inside, cleric Hassan Toaima told an angry crowd, "We demand to know who did this so that we can avenge our martyrs."

In a show of unity, Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish council representatives appeared before journalists, calling on Iraqis to maintain calm "in order to cheat our enemies of the chance to inflict evil on the nation."

Crowds of enraged survivors swarmed nearby hospitals, some blaming Americans for stirring up religious tensions by launching the war.

Stone-throwing Iraqis attacked U.S. Army medics trying to help wounded at Kazimiya, driving the U.S. troops back into their high-walled compound then trying to storm the gates. Soldiers threw smoke grenades and fired shotguns into the air to drive away the mob.

At least five explosions shook Kerbala, a holy city where more than two million Shi'ites from Iraq, Iran and further afield had gathered. Colonel Raed Nabil, the city police chief, said at least 70 Iraqis and Iranians were killed in the attacks.

In Baghdad, four blasts hit the holiest Shi'ite mosque, the Kadhimiya mosque in the north of the capital. The health minister said at least 54 people were killed but the number of scattered body parts hampered collating a death toll. One medic said the Baghdad toll could be more than 75.

Shi'ites had packed Kerbala and some districts of Baghdad to mark Ashura, the 10th day of the month of Muharram when according to tradition Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, was killed in battle more than 13 centuries ago.

Officials of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan were leaving the city of Mosul in their cars when the gunmen attacked, said Mullah Bakhtiar, a spokesman for the PUK, one of two parties governing the Kurds' self-rule zone in northern Iraq.

Bakhtiar said he believed the attackers knew PUK officials were in the car they shot at, but they did not know the identities of those officials.

TROOP NEWS
Surprise, Surprise! Guard Units Learn They Are Headed For Iraq Along With 18,000 More

March 02, 2004 By Jane McHugh, Army Times staff writer

They thought they were bound for the Bosnia/Kosovo theater of operations. But the several hundred soldiers who make up the 42nd Infantry Division’s headquarters have been informed that they’re probably headed, instead, to Iraq.

The small National Guard unit, based in Troy, N.Y., plus three much larger National Guard enhanced brigades — 18,000 soldiers in all — were alerted yesterday that they will likely be part of Operation Iraqi Freedom III, the third Central Command rotation commencing late this year or early next year.

The alerted soldiers are with the 256th Infantry Brigade, the 116th Armored Cavalry Brigade and the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

The 116th includes soldiers from Idaho, Oregon and Montana. It will be the single largest mobilization in Idaho history, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne told The Idaho Falls Post Register. “Probably every Idahoan will feel the impact,” he said.

March 01, 2004, By Jane McHugh, Army Times staff writer A civil lawsuit filed by the family of a Fort Bragg, N.C., soldier killed by a deputy sheriff during the Robin Sage training exercise two years ago says officials should have warned deputies that the covert, role-playing exercise was underway.

Deputy Randall Butler of the Moore County Sheriff’s Office shot and killed First Lt. Tallas Tomeny, 32, and shot and wounded another soldier, Sgt. Stephen Phelps, who was with Tomeny during a role-playing exercise Feb. 23, 2002.

Phelps also is suing, alleging excessive force and unreasonable seizure.

He was shot in the chest but has recovered and returned recently from a Special Forces assignment in Afghanistan, said his lawyer, C. Scott Holmes of Durham, N.C.

Military and state criminal investigators concluded the shooting was an accident. No criminal charges were filed. (Of course not. How often do killer cops have to pay the price for their cold blooded executions? Mostly, the kind of bullshit lies this cop told are taken for gospel truth. His mistake was executing a soldier. Had he confined his killing to some 19 year old black kid driving an SUV, nobody in power would have raised an eyebrow. Check out the lame silly lies he uses below to try to weasel out of what is clearly deliberate murder.)

The two soldiers were riding in a pickup truck driven by a civilian who also was participating in the role-playing exercise. They were armed but had blank ammunition. Butler, who did not know the exercise was going on, thought they were acting suspiciously and pulled them over. And the two soldiers thought Butler was part of the game.

After Butler flashed his emergency lights, he approached the soldiers in their pickup truck. Tomeny told him they were from “Pineland,” a code word that indicated participation in Robin Sage. Tomeny then attempted to bribe Butler with “obviously fake currency” used in the game, the lawsuit says.

Next, Butler allegedly pointed his gun at Tomeny, who raised his hands. Butler sprayed Tomeny with tear gas or pepper spray, then shot him and Phelps without provocation, the lawsuit says.

Butler told the state investigators that he felt the need to use deadly force because he was outnumbered and thought his life was in danger. He said that after speaking with Tomeny he became suspicious, searched his bag, saw two machine guns inside and took the bag away.

Butler then pulled out his gun because he thought Tomeny had a gun. He said he shot the men when he told them to show their hands and they didn’t comply.

(Moral of story clear: If some deputy dog come up on you during a training exercise and even twitches towards his weapon, make sure you have more than blanks, and immediately fire for effect. You may be in the stockade awhile, but you won’t be dead. If there’s going to be a funeral, let it be for deputy dog.)

What do you think? Comments from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome. Send to the E-mail address up top. Name, I.D., withheld on request. Replies confidential.

Army To Use U.S. Soldiers As Human Test Subjects; Wants Safety Standards Killed

M. Alexander Otto, Bureau of National Affairs 2/28/2004

Under a plan proposed by U.S. Army human research regulators, the Department of Defense could ignore key Food and Drug Administration safety standards when administering experimental products to soldiers, according to an October memorandum recently obtained by BNA from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases' Office of Human Use and Ethics.

Under current FDA rules, experimental drugs and devices only can be used in well-controlled clinical trials that test safety and efficacy.

Investigational products also must carry labels that state "Caution: New Drug- Limited by Federal (or United States) Law to Investigational Use."

"This label can lead the war fighter to question the safety and/or effectiveness of the product and may threaten operational objectives," according to the memo. (Good!)

The plan would exempt the military from the clinical trial requirement. Instead, a joint military and FDA panel would review the safety and efficacy of the agent, determine whether a clinical trial is feasible, identify ethical obligations, and approve the product under a new FDA category: "licensed for contingency."

The category would be reserved for "products unlikely to receive FDA approval under current rules but that have sufficient human safety and animal efficacy experience to permit military use." The memo noted, however, that the military often fields products that have not been tested in humans "because of the great danger to individuals of conducting human clinical efficacy trials."

Dr. Meryl Nass, an advocate for soldiers injured by anthrax vaccine, botulinum toxin, nerve gas antidote, and other experimental products, takes a dim view of the initiative. It is part of an ongoing DOD campaign to free the military from basic human subject protections, she said.

Soldiers are subject to military discipline if they refuse an experimental product. Those injured have no recourse; soldiers cannot sue DOD for injuries received while in the service, Nass noted.

100 More Things Skippy Is No Longer Allowed To Do In The U.S. Army

April 16, 2003 Posted by: Avalanche Company

Company A, 2nd Battalion, 103rd Armor, Pennsylvania Army National Guard Written by: SPC Schwartz aka Skippy aka Princess Anastasia, stationed with the Army at Ft. Bragg before deployment to the Balkans.

SPC Schwartz was either very clever or very bored; but probably both, since he managed to attempt or be warned about 213 things he wasn't allowed to do. He collected those things into a list and posted them to the web.

Here are the Second 100. More next issue.

1. Claymore mines are not filled with yummy candy, and it is wrong to tell new soldiers that they are.
2. I am not allowed to mount a bayonet on a crew-served weapon.
3. Rodents are not entitled to burial with full military honors, even if they are "casualties of war".
4. My commander is not old enough to have fought in the civil war, and I should stop implying that he did.
5. Vodka, green food coloring, and a ‘Cool Mint’ Listerine® bottle is not a good combination.
6. I am not allowed to bum cigarettes off of anyone under twelve.
7. I may not trade my rifle for any of the following: Cigarettes, booze, sexual favors, Kalishnikovs, Soviet Armored vehicles, small children, or bootleg CD’s.
8. Must not mock command decisions in front of the press.
9. Should not taunt members of the press, even if they are really fat, exceptionally stupid, and working for UPI.
10. I am not authorized to change national policy in Eastern Europe.
11. Never, ever, attempt to correct a Green Beret officer about anything.
12. I am not qualified to operate any US, German, Polish, or Russian Armored vehicles.
13. When saluting a ‘leg’ officer, an appropriate greeting is not "Airborne leads the wa- oh…sorry sir".
14. There is absolutely no need to emulate the people from ‘Full Monty’ every time I hear the song "Hot Stuff".
15. I cannot trade my CO to the Russians.
16. I should not speculate on the penis size of anyone who outranks me.
17. Crucifying mice – bad idea.
18. Must not use government equipment to bootleg pornography.
19. Burn pits for classified material are not revel fires – therefore it is wrong to dance naked around them.
20. I cannot arrest children for being rude.
21. An EO briefing is probably not the best place to unveil my newest off color joke.
22. I should not use government resources to ‘waterproof’ dirty magazines.
23. Radioactive material should not be stored in the barracks.
24. I should not teach other soldiers to say offensive and crude things in Albanian, under the guise of teaching them how to say potentially useful phrases.
25. Two drink limit does not mean first and last.
26. Two drink limit does not mean two kinds of drinks.
27. Two drink limit does not mean the drinks can be as large as I like.
28. ‘No Drinking Of Alcoholic Beverages’ does not imply that a Jack Daniel’s ® IV is acceptable.
29. "Shpadoinkle" is not a real word.
30. The Microsoft ® ‘Dancing Paperclip’ is not authorized to countermand any orders.
31. ‘I’m drunk’ is a bad answer to any question posed by my commander.
32. No dancing in the turret. This especially applies in conjunction with rule #14 above.
33. The loudspeaker system is not a forum to voice my ideas.
34. The loudspeaker system is not to be used to replace the radio.
35. The loudspeaker system is not to be used to broadcast the soundtrack to a porno movie.
36. An order to put polish on my boots means the whole boot.
37. Shouting ‘Let’s do the village! Let’s do the whole fucking village!’ while out on a mission is bad.
38. Should not show up at the front gate wearing part of a Russian uniform, messily drunk.
39. Even if my commander did it.
40. Must not teach interpreters how to make "MRE" bombs.
41. I am not authorized to sell mineral rights.
42. Not allowed to use a broadsword to disprove ‘The Pen is Mightier than the sword’.
43. 'Calvin-Ball' is not authorized PT.
44. I do not need to keep a 'range card' by my window.
45. 'K-Pot, LBE, and a thin coat of Break-free' is not an authorized uniform.
46. I should not drink three quarts of blue food coloring before a urine test.
47. Nor should I drink three quarts of red food coloring, and scream during the same.
48. I should not threaten suicide with pop rocks and Coke ®.
49. Putting red 'Mike and Ike's' ® into a prescription medicine bottle, and then eating them all in a formation is not funny.
50. Must not create new DOD forms, then insist they be filled out.
51. On Sports Day PT, a wedgie is not considered a legal tackle.
52. The proper way to report to my Commander is 'Specialist Schwarz, reporting as ordered, Sir' not 'You can't prove a thing!'
53. The following items do not exist: Keys to the Drop Zone, A box of grid squares, blinker fluid, winter air for tires, canopy lights, or Chem-Light ® batteries.
54. I should not assign new privates to 'guard the flight line'.
55. Shouldn't treat 'piss-bottles' with extra-strength icy hot.
56. Teaching Albanian children to taunt other soldiers is not nice.
57. I will no longer perform 'lap-dances' while in uniform.
58. If I take the uniform off, in the course of the lap-dance, it still counts.
59. The revolution is not now.
60. When detained by MP's, I do not have a right to a strip search.
61. No part of the military uniform is edible.
62. Bodychecking General officers is not a good idea.
63. Past lives have absolutely no effect on the chain of command.
64. Take that hat off.
65. There is no such thing as a were-virgin.
66. I do not get 'that time of month'.
67. No, the pants are not optional.
68. Not allowed to operate a business out of the barracks.
69. Especially not a pornographic movie studio.
70. Not even if they *are* 'especially patriotic films'
71. Not allowed to 'defect' to OPFOR during training missions.
72. On training missions, try not to shoot down the General's helicopter.
73. 'A full magazine and some privacy' is not the way to help a potential suicide.
74. I am not allowed to create new levels of security clearance.
75. Furby ® is not allowed into classified areas. (I swear to the gods, I did not make that up, it's actually DOD policy).
76. We do not 'charge into battle, naked, like the Celts'.
77. Any device that can crawl across the table on medium, does not need to be brought into the office.
78. I am not to refer to a formation as 'the boxy rectangle thingie'.
79. I am not 'A lesbian trapped in a man's body'.
80. On Army documents, my race is not 'Other'.
81. Nor is it 'Secretariat, in the third'.
82. Pokémon® trainer is not an MOS.
83. There is no FM for 'wall-to-wall counseling'.
84. My chain of command has neither the time, nor the inclination to hear about what I did with six boxes of Fruit Roll-Ups. ®
85. When operating a military vehicle I may *not* attempt something 'I saw in a cartoon'.
86. My name is not a killing word.
87. I am not the Emperor of anything.
88. Must not taunt officers in the throes of nicotine withdrawal, with cigarettes.
89. May not challenge officers to 'Meet me on the field of honor, at dawn'.
90. Do not dare SERE graduates to eat bugs. They will always do it.
91. Must not make s'mores while on guard duty.
92. Our Humvees cannot be assembled into a giant battle-robot.
93. The proper response to a briefing is not 'That's what you think'.
94. The Masons, and Gray Aliens are not in our chain of command.
95. Shouldn't take incriminating photos of my chain of command.
96. Shouldn't use Photoshop ® to create incriminating photos of my chain of command.
97. I am not allowed to give tattoos.
98. I am not allowed to sing 'Henry the VIII I am' until verse 68 ever again.
99. Not allowed to lead a 'Coup' during training missions.
100. I should not confess to crimes that took place before I was born.

The Rhodesian propaganda war started in the early 1970s. Books, cartoons, jokes, radio and TV programmes extolling the invincibility of the white army and deriding the ‘terrs’ [terrorists] were part of daily life. Africans were saturated with bloodcurdling leaflets and films warning them of the horrors that would be-visited on them by ‘communists, Marxist-Leninists and criminal terrorists’.

The Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (REC) broadcast programmes in English and Shona detailing the barbarisms committed by ‘terrorists’, offering rewards for reporting their presence and protection by the Rhodesian army.

Ironically the only people who listened to these broadcasts were whites. The African people listened to Radio Mozambique and the Voice of Zimbabwe — one of the most popular programmes was the regular talk show by Mugabe. As a Patriotic Front supporter said after the election: ‘Every kid had Mugabe fever. Everybody could see that Comrade Mugabe was talking sense.’ A well-known black RBC broadcaster, Ben Musoni, later remembered:’….the whole country was behind the freedom fighters.’ As it became apparent to the High Command and the Psychological Operations Unit that their propaganda in the rural areas was not having the desired effect, they tried other methods — some atrocious, others ludicrous. At one point the army airdropped leaflets from helicopters purporting to come from the spirit mediums of the people, and advising them to support the government.

While whites in the Department of Information composed these messages in all seriousness, convinced they would influence ‘simple tribesmen’, the Africans were simply nonplussed. As one told his captors: ‘We have never had instructions from spirit mediums in a helicopter. We have never had a typewritten message from a spirit. When did a spirit have a typewriter?’

On the more grisly side, Combined Operations found that showing footage of ‘kills’, mounds of dead guerrilla bodies, had a ‘good effect’ on white morale.

This refusal to comprehend the aims of the Zimbabwean guerrillas led indirectly to the downfall of white Rhodesia.

From a military point of view the Rhodesian security forces were stronger and far better equipped than the guerrillas. On conventional battlefields the Rhodesian army would have won in a matter of weeks. The ‘bush war’ was something else.

An American veteran of the Vietnam War in the Rhodesian army summed it up: ‘We thought we’d win because we were superior in firepower, and training. We thought they were bad soldiers. But they won. It doesn’t matter how and it doesn’t have to be militarily. The Rhodesian High Command really didn’t understand counter-insurgency warfare….you’ve got to look at it in terms of the people supporting the gooks. It does no good to justify it in your own terms.

That’s just self- righteous. And that’s really what the Smith government was doing all along — looking at the African as a household pet. But he’s like white people and you’ve got to look at his motivation. That’s where the white government failed — in never really understanding the enemy or how to fight him.’

By the late 1970s the High Command realised it was not going to win, and the government moved towards an internal settlement. It proclaimed that ‘free and fair’ elections would be held and, for a brief spell, even un-banned the Patriotic Front. But the man white Rhodesia wanted in power was Muzorewa. Under his leadership the whites would retain indirect power and privilege and be able to tell the world that this was ‘what the people wanted’. The Patriotic Front was summarily banned again.

Amid intense international lobbying, a vast advertising campaign and elaborate stage management of the voting — as well as heavy military and police supervision — the people duly voted in Muzorewa as Prime Minister, and in June 1979 the new state of Zimbabwe- Rhodesia was born.

But the world was not buying the election. Neither was the Patriotic Front, and nor were the people. For them, little had changed. The war carried on, sanctions remained, the oppression continued and the international community refused to recognise Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

Very quickly and painfully it became apparent that new elections would have to be held, and talks were held in London to hammer out an accord for a new election. The British Government appointed a temporary Governor, Lord Soames, to oversee a cease- fire in the run-up to the election set for March 1980.

When at last Mugabe returned from Mozambique for the election, a phenomenal crowd turned out to welcome him in Salisbury — more than the entire white population of Rhodesia. Still the penny did not drop. The governments of Rhodesia and South Africa gave Mugabe — at best — the chance of winning about 35 of the 80 seats. Money poured in from rightwing sources around the world to back Muzorewa’s campaign. There was radio, Press and TV advertising on an unprecedented scale, aircraft, helicopters, bands, contingents of cars and trucks and the entire military wing of the security forces behind Muzorewa’s United African National Council.

A massive anti-Mugabe propaganda campaign was launched and two assassination attempts were carried out. Advertisements portrayed Mugabe as a power-mad communist dictator, a ‘black Hitler’, a monster and mass-murderer. At the same time the electorate was continually assured that it was impossible for Mugabe to win,

But on 4 March, ‘The Herald’ newspaper said it all with a banner headline reading ‘Massive win for Mugabe — 57 seats go to ZANU(PF)’. Muzorewa had gained three seats, and Joshua Nkomo’s Patriotic Front 20. It was a landslide.

When John Meiring, a member of Ian Smith’s Psychological Operations Unit, heard the news, his ‘ass fell on the ground with a thud that could be heard round the room. I mean, I knew there’d be guys who’d vote for Mugabe but not f---ing 90 percent of the black electorate! I went straight to the bar and had a double,’

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

UN Iraq WMD Inspectors Say U.S. Has Not Cooperated

(THANKS TO B WHO E-MAILED THIS IN: B WRITES: Bush’s line is that Saddam didn’t cooperate and needed to get his ass kicked. Now Bush needs to kick his own ass.)

3.2.04 By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. arms inspectors on Tuesday complained that a lack of cooperation by the United States had stymied their efforts to completely account for Iraqi weapons.

The latest quarterly report by the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, known as UNMOVIC, says Washington never gave the commission a copy of U.S. inspector David Kay's findings on Iraqi weapons, and it failed to seek any U.N. information for Kay's team.

"During the period under review, no official information was available to UNMOVIC on either the work of, or the results of, the investigations of the United States-led Iraq Survey Group in Iraq. Nor has the (U.S.) survey group requested any information from UNMOVIC," the U.N. report said.

Chavez Calls Bush 'Asshole'

By Patrick Markey 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush an "asshole" on Sunday for meddling, and vowed never to quit office like his Haitian counterpart as troops battled with opposition protesters demanding a recall referendum against him.

Chavez, who often says the U.S. is backing opposition efforts to topple his leftist government, accused Bush of heeding advice from "imperialist" aides to support a brief 2002 coup against him.

"He was an asshole to believe them," Chavez roared at a huge rally of supporters in Caracas.

(For more on South America, see the article “Bolivia: Throwing Out A President” at www.isreview.org.)

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTSCollaborator Army Cadets Open Fire On Religious Procession, One Shi'ite Killed,

02 Mar 2004 KABUL (Reuters)

One Afghan was killed and up to 16 were injured in clashes between minority Shi'ites and army cadets in the capital Kabul, witnesses said on Tuesday.

They told Reuters that the clashes late on Monday started when an Afghan army cadet shouted abuse and spat at a banner carried by a group of Shi'ite Muslims commemorating the slaying of revered leader Imam Hussein more than 1,300 years ago.

"After that, the Shi'ites started throwing stones at them (the cadets)," said Hussain, a Shi'ite Hazara who was at the scene.

"Then armed men from the army school started firing on people, and one person died and another was wounded. All the other fifteen were wounded by stones being thrown."

Mohammad Zaki, an eyewitness who was slightly injured by a stone thrown during the clash, gave a similar account.

Violence between Shi'ites and majority Sunni Muslims is rare in Kabul, but Shi'ite Hazaras have a history of being persecuted elsewhere in Afghanistan. In the latest incident, 12 Hazaras were killed in January by unidentified gunmen in the southern province of Helmand, an area dominated by Sunni Pashtuns. Hundreds of Hazaras were slaughtered by the former Taliban regime in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998.

Received:

From: L
To: GI Special
Sent: March 02, 2004
Subject: Re: GI Special 2#35: Bush Hides Casualties
As usual, GI Special is right-on-solid-work. Congratulations for a really good product! Just like in Vietnam, the American people are being blatantly lied to about casualties, both U.S. and Iraqi.
Sincerely,
L
Publisher
C

Defeating The Occupiers On The Ground Will Free Iraq And End The War

Excerpts From Scott Feb 23 '04 (New Zealand) comment

The Iraqi people have a right to resist the occupation of their country. Accepting the Iraqi right to resistance also means accepting the right of Iraqis to attack New Zealand troops. We can't square the circle and be on both sides at once.

It's never 'bad PR' to tell the truth, and we shouldn't think that telling soldiers the truth will mean they'll never listen to us. When we protested against the frigate leaving for the Middle East at the beginning of 2002, one participant had a brother on the frigate, and another brother on a frigate which had just returned from a tour of duty in the same region. He didn't flinch from arguing that Iraqis had a right to attack his brother – that didn't mean he “wanted” an attack on his brother, but that he respected and cared about his brother enough to tell him the truth about the situation he had chosen to put himself in.

It was not wrong to call for a Vietnamese victory against the US, NZ etc because only the military victory of the Vietnamese, supported by a global anti-war movement, could end the war and bring the GIs and ANZACs home.

That's why so many US veterans who joined the anti-war movement used the slogan 'Victory to the Viet Cong!' They were actually being “loyal” to their comrades still in the field by calling for the defeat of the US ruling class.

Mutinies and 'fragging' – the assassination of officers with fragmentation grenades – were a factor in the eventual defeat of the US army, with historians calculating that 5% of US casualties came from their own side.

There is irrefutable evidence of armed resistance by the Iraqi working class to occupation. The last couple of months a series of armed confrontations have pitted unemployed workers against the coalition authorities.

Strypey argues that NZ should pull its troops out of Iraq and send money to help in the reconstruction of the country. No arguments there. But how on earth does Strypey think the occupiers going to be booted out of Iraq?

History – not least the history of the anti-war campaign last year – shows that imperialism will not withdraw unless it is defeated by resistance, including armed resistance. Protest in the West on its own can't do the job, because Bush, Clark et al are not going to be persuaded – they can only be defeated.

That's why the left needs to learn the lessons of the Vietnam War

Anything less will lead to a repeat of the failure of last year's anti-war movement and open the door for new US wars all over the globe.

OCCUPATION ISN’T LIBERATION
BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

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